Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile Sandy Bridge Processor

Article Index:

Test Systems and SiSoft SANDRA

The Packard Bell machine that Intel sent us for testing with Sandy Bridge, had easy access to primary system components via a couple of panels on the underside of the notebook. However, since we were under the gun with this piece, we weren't able to do a full tear-down for you. You can thank Intel for pulling in NDA times and making us work over the holiday break . Our significant others certainly did. Break? What break?

Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile Processor and H67 Express IO Hub Chip

The Core i7-2820QM comes packaged in a 1224 pin rPGA (Pin Grid Array) with alternative BGA (Ball Grid Array) versions available for direct solder to the PCB. Regardless, like previous designs, a half twist with a flat head screw driver will release the processor from its socket. On the top right you can see Intel's new H67 Express IO chip for the rest of the system's multitude of connectivity options.

We began our testing with SiSoftware's SANDRA 2011B, the
System ANalyzer, Diagnostic
and Reporting Assistant. We ran three of the
built-in subsystem tests that partially comprise the SANDRA 2011 suite with
Intel's new Core i7-2820QM Sandy Bridge processor (CPU
Arithmetic, Multimedia, and Memory Bandwidth). All of the scores reported below were
taken with the processor running at its default clock speed of 2.3GHz with Turbo Boost scaling to 3.4GHz depending on thread-level workloads.

SiSoft SANDRA CPU Test

SiSoft SANDRA Multimedia Test

SiSoft SANDRA Memory Bandwidth Test

In terms of raw CPU throughput, the new Core i7-2820QM mobile processor shows it's faster than Intel's previous generation Core i7 975 desktop chip under SANDRA's Processor Arithmetic and Multi-Media tests. These early simple test results are obviously encouraging. In terms of memory bandwidth, Intel's new mobile processor architecture is also able to keep pace with the triple channel DDR3 memory and processor cache performance of an X58 chipset-based system in some cases, offering over 18GB/s of aggregate memory bandwidth. Remember that the Core i7-2820QM is doing this with a dual channel DDR3 configuration as well. Again, Intel's Sandy Bridge mobile architecture is stacking up very well in these tests.